HELP! I need career advice!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I don’t know if this is where this thread belongs. Where do you put “need advice”??? You have my blessing if you feel it needs to be moved.

Ok. I’m really desperate, so I’m posting here, in hopes that some of my online friends here can help me.

I need to register this month for my university transfer course that starts in January.

Here’s the problem…

I’m thinking about changing my career goal. I’ve had SO many people, including my teachers, recommend an engineering program. My original plan was to take Computer Science, but now that I’ve spent some time in school, I’m really interested in being a physicist. Of course, there are virtually no jobs for physicists around here, and because of circumstances, I can’t move. I need a career that I can do here.

Right now an engineering program sounds more interesting than computer science, but if I become an engineer, I have to decide what kind of engineer, and if I can handle the course load with four kids. I’ve spent the last month trying to get a hold of “friends of friends” to see if I can talk to someone who is working in the engineering field to give me some advice. I really don’t want to start phoning strangers if I don’t have to (like calling the university to see if I can get a contact with a previous grad - altho I will if I have to). I’m also planning on calling today to make an appointment with a career counselor, although everyone I’ve talked to said that they are more for deciding what courses to take once you know your major, rather than helping to make the decision.

So…

I was thinking that maybe talking it out with some of my online friends might help. I’m sure that some of you might have faced similar decisions, and maybe have some advice for me. Any help or perspective on the situation would be deeply appreciated. No qualifications necessary.

2

It sounds to me as if you need to decide what you want to do after you graduate. As you mentioned, you can’t move, and you don’t think you can get a job as a physicist without moving. I’d say your next step is to take a look around your area, and see just what sort of engineering jobs there are available. Once you have an idea of what’s available, take that list and start looking into each discipline and see what appeals to you.

3

Plastics.

Well, that advice may be a little dated by now.

I have an engineering degree (mechanical) but I work in software. It’s not uncommon to work in a field unrelated to your degree (not that mine is totally unrelated, but very little of what I do has anything to do with what I studied in college, all those years ago.)

Engineering is a good general purpose degree. It tells potential employers that you have a solid math and science background and can think logically. A physics degree would carry about the same weight, I suppose, but physics tends to be more theoretical, engineering more applied. I started college as a physics major but switched to engineering, at least partly because it was easier to compete. Physics tends to attract the real brainiacs and I was brainy but lazy.

Which engineering field is a different matter. Electrical is generally perceived as the hardest, and is a good entry if you think your ultimate career will be computer related. Chemical is harder, also, but a little specialized. Mechanical is more general, but hard enough to be respectable. Civil engineers (sorry guys) are generally perceived as having the easiest coursework, but if that’s what you like it’s still a good field.

The company I work for (Boeing) is more interested in experience and interests than which specific degree you hold. A degree is required, but they’ve got spots for just about anybody. A technical degree here is considered pretty general, unless you have some specific area where a specific degree is required. The University of Washington, here in Seattle, turns out millions of Aerospace Engineers, who think they are coming to Boeing to design airplanes. However, due to the fact that Boeing only designs two or three airplanes every decade, and the people that do the designs are very senior, they will almost certainly not design airplanes, but they will be hired and do useful and challenging work in related areas. A friend of mine is an expert on the part of the plane where the wings join the fuselage. Sounds boring to me but he enjoys it.

Bottom line – study what you enjoy and what you can do well. Good grades and enthusiasm are at least as important as specifics of what you study. A lot of job opportunities simply aren’t visible without some inside experience. Don’t be too hasty to judge what is and isn’t available – doors will open when you’re ready to enter them. (Sounds like a horoscope doesn’t it? What’s your sign?)

4

p.s. If you think my advice has any value, or want to talk more, let me know and we can e-mail or talk by phone, if you like.

5

I’ll go ahead and give a “Harumph!” to Athena and pluto and also add that if, once you’ve done some exploring in your geopraphical area, you have any questions on the various disciplines or specific areas within each discipline (e.g. analysis vs. design vs. project…), there are manny people here (myself included) who would be glad to answer your questions.

My $0.02: I do analysis engineering (structural and heat transfer, mostly) and I love it.

6

Always a good question: What do I want to be when I grow up? I know so many people stuck in jobs they don’t really like because they have a certain set of skills. . .

I believe you have to do what you enjoy. It’s far worse to do something you can barely stand to do, making big bucks; than to do something you like and get by.

You might consider getting a fairly general degree, then trying several different fields until you find one you like. You could get your degree in physics, but end up working in a glass factory or something.

7

Personally, if I had the choice I’d study EE. It’s the most interesting to me, but in my geographical area it also has the few opportunities.

What would you like to design? Figure that out and you’ll know whether to become a Mechanical or Civil engineer.
______________________________________-
Mechanical Engineers build weapons. :cool:
Civil Engineers build targets. :eek:

8

First of all, a big thanks to everyone who responded.

It looks like engineers of all kinds have excellent job opportunities around here, with the possible exception of aerospace engineering. Finding a job with a degree in engineering doesn’t look like an issue.

I know from experience that I enjoy designing things, I prefer office work rather than a lot of field work. I know that as far as the topics I’ve taken so far (for my prerequisites) that I find physics and chemistry effortless, and really enjoy both, although I would like a little more challenge in both subjects. I really like math. In my spare time I like to read up on particle physics and on astronomy. I do logic problems for fun.

Even after the research I’ve done, I’m still a little fuzzy on what different engineers do. Both generally and on a day to day basis. I think that so far I’m leaning towards computer engineering, after reading up on job profiles, but I’m not exactly sure that I have enough info to make a final decision.

Pluto: I would love to discuss things more with you. I’m also interested in how challenging the course work is to get the degree. I love challenges, and don’t think I would be happy doing something that’s too easy. I also don’t want to shut my family out for four years, so I need some balance there.

Strainger: Can you tell me a little more about your job? It sounds interesting!

Southern Style and Danalan: I’m not sure what I’d like to design. I would actually be pretty happy working with a particle accelerator all day.

Athena: It looks like all of the engineering fields are expanding rapidly around here. Now… what would I like to design…

9

Hope I’m not too late. As a person who works daily in the Computer Science and who hires people all the time I can say this:

A Computer Science degree is a waste of time!

I hire programmers. I hire one or two a month on average. Most of them have degrees in something other than computer science. My boss (the owner of the company) is an Electrical Engineer and Juris Doctor. My best programmer has no degree, my best designer has a degree in Marine Biology. Two of my star analysts are Ph.D.'s in Aerospace Engineering (my rocket scientists!). While you’re in school, do what you want. What interests you? Most companies these days have come to recognize that a degree is less valuable than the ability to “do the thing”. I’m sorry I can’t speak to the engineer v. physicist debate, but the one thing I can say is “Get out of Comp. Sci.!”

BTW, keep in mind that software folks design too! A love of creating interesting things is not unique to the physical sciences.

Good luck! With an attitude like your, success is a given. Pick something that makes you happy!

grem :slight_smile:

10

Grem: You’re not too late. I’m putting off the paperwork until the end of the month, to try and give myself as much time as possible. Thanks for the perspective on computer science. I was kind of leaning away from it anyway, and that has reaffirmed my position.

Well, one thing that these responses has shown me is that I am not married to whatever degree I choose to get. That’s kind of a relief. As a former high school drop out who’s biggest accomplishment to date has been bartending school, I don’t have a lot of experience with this stuff. My upgrading has been a breeze so far, but I’ve felt intimidated by each new step in the education process.

I really appreciate the advice so far, and if anyone has their $0.02 to throw in, I’m listening.

11

I disagree with Grem, but also agree.

A degree is what you make of it. In Silicon Valley, a degree isn’t needed 100% of the time, because decision-makers want staff with experience and knowledge, and if you don’t have either of those, they want someone who’s trainable.

I can have a CIS degree and know nothing and vice versa not have a degree and be the most knowledgeable guy in the block. I know tons of the former and lots of the latter.

My recommendation to you, Lola, is to find something you enjoy. If it’s Engineering, look into Bio-mech…it’s a hot field. If you’d like to be in the computer world, or IT, or a programmer, minor in CIS and major in a programming language, or networking, or something else that’s hot(I’m not sure of your locale).

just another 2 cents for ya!
-Sam

12

la-la-la-la-lolagranola said:

Well, since you asked, I’ll go ahead and bore you with some details. I think it would be helpful if I discussed my previous jobs as well. I’ve worked at three companies since I got out of college.

1st Company: Aerospace Component Manufacturer (Large Corporation)
For the most part, I did structural analysis. This entailed proof (part can’t bend), burst (part can’t break), fatigue (part has to last x number of load cycles), modal, and forced vibration analysis (sinusoidal and random). One method used to do analysis was hand calculations, which were based on theory I learned in school and could either be remembered, looked up in a text book, or looked up in a proprietary analysis handbook. The more repetitive analysis equations were programmed in Fortran, TKSolver, or Excel. For more complex analyses I created finite element models. I also did a little bit of heat transfer and provide consultation to the lab regarding vibration test set-up, such as where to place the accelerometers, how the fixture should be designed, etc. The thing I didn’t like about this job, besides the fact that I was being paid about 15% below industry average, was that I was responsible for a single product line, so after a while there was little variety and few challenges. Also, even though we (the structures group) were responsible for ensuring the structural integrity of our products, a lot of higher-ups and even project engineers had no clue about what we did; they just thought that the stress report was a data item (i.e. paperwork) required to get the product out the door. I think these grievances pretty much hold true for just about any major corporation.

2nd Company: Semiconductor Testing Equipment Manufacturer (Small Corporation)
It sucked. I hated it. Let’s not talk about it.

3rd Company: Mechanical Engineering Consulting Firm, among other things (Tiny Corporation, although we’ve grown to 40 employees this year)
I do a lot of outsourced engineering work for various manufacturing companies, with a majority of the work so far coming from the first company I worked with. My duties are similar to what I did for the first company except the work that gets passed on to us tends to be more complex and challenging than what our customers choose to do themselves. There is also much more variety since I do work for multiple companies and different product lines within the same company. My knowledge and expertise has grown dramtically since I’ve been here, even though it’s only been about six months. In particular, my ability to do heat transfer analysis using a finite element modeler has been greatly increased, although my overall knowledge of heat transfer is very rudimentary since I majored in aerospace engineering and never had to take it in college. Even though it has its ups and downs, I feel that this is a very stable company, since we do work for several different industries and larger manufacturing companies are finding outsourced work to be cheaper than their own employees’ overhead. Also, the guys who founded this company used to do the same sort of work that I do, so they have an appreciation for our work.

Essentially I do homework for a living.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.